


Absence

by comfyeol



Category: Archie Comics, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-20 14:02:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9494696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/comfyeol/pseuds/comfyeol
Summary: Archie hasn't seen Veronica for an entire summer and as they say: absence makes the heart grow fonder.





	

One summer could change everything; that was something everyone in Riverdale knew. Within one summer, the summer before sophomore year, Archie Andrews had gotten hot, Betty Cooper’s sister had left the town, Veronica Lodge had arrived, and Jason Blossom had been murdered. It had been a year since then, and just as summer arrived, it was coming to a close. Junior year was approaching for Archie and to say he wasn’t prepared was an understatement. 

It had been a good summer. Archie had spent most of it stuck working for his father, but was able to have a bit of free time to practice his music. Betty was off in New York interning at a publishing company and Jughead was visiting some distant Uncle in Kansas. Veronica, on the other hand, had a terrible summer. The trial for her father had begun and her mother had demanded she accompanied her to court. Although Hiram and Hermione had technically separated, Veronica knew her mother still felt the need to defend the family name.

Now it was the first day back to school and Veronica was ready to see her friends. Sure, there could be drama within the group, but nothing could compare with the horrible things she had to deal with this summer. Of course she was looking forward to seeing one person a little bit more; Archie Andrews. The two had a bit of a fling during the school year; it never turned into anything serious due to the many, many other things happening at Riverdale High.

Veronica’s mother pulled the car up to the school before pressing a kiss to her daughter’s cheek. Veronica shot her a smile before grabbing her purse and backpack and exiting the car. She hopped up onto the sidewalk, her heels making a satisfying noise against the pavement. The school looked the same as it did last year; like it was still stuck in the 1920’s. 

Her locker was still in the same spot next to Betty. She spotted the blonde girl standing with Kevin, the two obviously in some sort of conversation. Veronica approached the two with a smile; she had really missed her friends.

“What’s all the excitement?” Veronica smiled. Kevin whirled around in excitement, pulling Veronica into a hug. The black haired girl laughed before hugging him back.

“Ronnie! How was your summer? Any cute boys?” Kevin said as he pulled back. Betty nudged him with her elbow; the two had talked about this. Veronica had been all over the news with the trial against her father going on. It would have been best for them to not have brought it up. Betty shot Veronica an apologetic smile and pulled her into a hug.

“I hope everything went okay, Veronica.” She mumbled to her. Veronica pulled back from the hug and shrugged before turning to open her locker. It didn’t go ‘okay,’ in fact, it went horrifically. Watching your father get dragged off to prison for embezzlement isn’t exactly the epitome of a fun summer.

“Well, as the French say: C’est la vie. I have to get to class. See you two at lunch.” Veronica shut the locker door and began the walk to her class upstairs. Having chemistry first period was not going to be a good time, but having it with Archie Andrews made everything a bit more interesting. 

The classroom was just beginning to fill up when Veronica entered. She immediately spotted Archie; his ginger hair was hard to miss. The seat next to him was open so she made her way over to where he was sitting. He had his headphones in and was scribbling things down onto the paper. 

“Working on some new music?” She asked, sliding into the seat next to him at the lab table. Archie’s head snapped up from his work, surprised to be met with Veronica. He smiled and quickly removed his headphones so he could talk to her.

“Y-yeah, I’ve been working on some new stuff this summer. How-how are you? What’s been going on? How was your summer?” Archie stuttered out. Veronica let out a giggle at how fast the boy had been speaking.

“Slow down, Archiekins. And I’m doing fine; well, as fine as I can be. Not that great of a summer.” She sighed, sliding her purse off her arm and setting it beside her on the table. Archie felt his cheeks growing hot, realizing that he had forgotten what had happened to her this summer.

“Oh, yeah, Ronnie. I’m so sorry about your dad and everything.” His eyes moved away from her, still embarrassed. She placed her hand on his shoulder, bringing his attention back to her.

“Not a big deal, Archie. I’ve had about five different people forget. It’s nice actually. Just makes me feel like maybe my father getting dragged off to prison wasn’t exactly as world ending as it felt.” Archie nodded and frowned. He couldn’t imagine how she felt. Sure, his mother had left his father a few years ago, but it wasn’t because she was going to jail.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that. I, uh, I missed you.” Archie chuckled, meeting Veronica’s eyes again. She smiled and let her hand drop from his shoulder. 

“Well you know what they say; absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Before Archie could respond, the bell rang as the teacher entered. Class had started. 

“Just my luck.” Archie mumbled to himself. After an agonizing hour of the teacher making them fill out survey after survey about themselves, the class had ended. Veronica picked up her purse before walking over to Archie. The two made their way out of the classroom together and began walking towards their next class. It was silent between them as they walked; they just shared soft smiles and short glances. It felt like sophomore year all over again. Veronica paused in front of the door to her next class.

“Well, this is my class. Thanks for walking with me, Archiekins.” Archie smiled at the nickname she used. He remembered the first day he called her that on the football field. She had looked just as beautiful.

“Yeah, no problem. I’ll see you at lunch and, uh, maybe dinner? Tonight at Pop’s? Just the two of us?” Archie asked, his freckled face turning a bit red with nervousness.

“Definitely. See you then.” Veronica smiled before pressing a kiss to his cheek and entering her class. Archie’s smile was still on his face by the time he sat down next to Jughead in his next class.

“What happened to you?” Jughead questioned the red-headed boy.

“Uh, nothing. Just, talked to Ronnie, that’s all.” Archie chuckled.

Nothing would ever compare to the events that transpired sophomore year, but maybe this would finally be the year Archie found someone who made him feel the way he was supposed to.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed! it was my first time writing for these two, but they've been my otp for ages!


End file.
